HomeResearch & Knowledgeback to HomeFamily Businessback to Research & KnowledgeThe Midea Groupback to Family Business

Case Study

The Midea Group

By Denise H. Kenyon-Rouvinez and Nan Li

4 pages

November 2015

Reference: IMD-7-1668

The Midea Group, a large family-controlled, publicly traded company was one of China’s largest household appliance manufacturers and widely considered a market leader. Founder He Xiangjian grew the small plastics production company he created in 1968 and turned it into a successful household appliance manufacturer that went public in 1993 as “Guangdong Midea Electric Appliances Co. Ltd.” It was Xiangjian’s firm belief that family should only exercise an ownership role and not be involved with managing the company. He himself resigned from the Midea Group board in 2012, naming a non-family member as his successor. The seven members of the senior management team were all professional managers and held Midea Group shares with voting rights.

Learning Objective

This case sets the scene for a discussion about whether family members should be involved in company management as opposed to having an ownership role only. It also opens a debate on the pros and cons of giving shares to employees .

Keywords

Home Appliances, Family Business, Family Ownership, Non-family Chief Executive Officer, Non-family Member, Shareholder Rights, Public Company

Settings

Asia, China
Midea, Manufacturing
1993-2014

Type

Published Sources

Available Languages

English

IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Keep reading

Article

CEO's temporal focus and business model innovation in family firms under environmental dynamism

Business model innovation (BMI) is critical for firms' long-term survival under environmental dynamism and depends heavily on CEOs' cognition. While Socioemotional Wealth (SEW) explains why family CEOs may resist or engage in BMI, it largely assum...

Family Business

By Muhammad Anwar, Matheus Franco, Thomas Clauss and Alfredo De Massis

in Long Range Planning

August 2026, vol. 59, no. 4, 102656, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2026.102656

Article

Stay in Control of Your Business as It Grows

Family business control may erode over generations unless deliberately designed. Learn how ownership structures and family governance may preserve influence over time.

Family Business

By Peter Lorange and Peter Vogel

in I by IMD

Article

When does financial slack matter? Family ownership, CEO family status, and SME performance

We offer novel insights into the utilization of heterogeneous types of financial slack (unabsorbed, absorbed, and potential) by family versus non-family small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We hypothesize that agency problems in family SMEs...

Family Business

By Tommaso Minola, Philipp Sieger, Massimo Baù, Giovanna Campopiano, Alfredo De Massis and Francesco Chirico

in Family Business Review

June 2026, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 149–172, https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865261420231

Article

Mastering digital transformation: "4E lessons" from leading multigenerational family firms

Relentless digital transformation is reshaping firm competitiveness, presenting both challenges and opportunities. This is especially true for multigenerational family firms, where complex intergenerational dynamics intensify the impact of transfo...

Family Business Digital

By Marco Mismetti, Samuel Wayne Appleton, Emanuela Rondi and Alfredo De Massis

in Research-Technology Management

June 2026, vol. 69, no. 3, https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2026.2631376

Article

Fly solo, then return home? Offspring's entrepreneurship experience and their future as family business successors

How does early-career entrepreneurship experience of family business offspring affect their likelihood of eventually taking over the established family firm? Considering family business succession as a dual-agency process, we draw on human capital...

Family Business Entrepreneurship

By Philipp Sieger, Jasper Brinkerink, Massimo Baù, Johan Karlsson and Alfredo De Massis

in Journal of Management Studies

29 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.70114

Article

Counterfactual indeterminacy bias in family firm research

Ever since scholars recognized that family firms are heterogeneous, many studies have attempted to compare different types of family firms without ensuring that the source of heterogeneity is unique to family firms. When the source of heterogeneit...

Family Business

By Hanqing Fang, James J. Chrisman and Alfredo De Massis

in Family Business Review

28 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865261454405

Case Study

The Mulliez Family Business: Unlocking the secrets of entrepreneurial DNA (B)

Case B of the Mulliez Family Business case series examines the family's entrepreneurial 'DNA': the unique set of characteristics that have enabled the Association Familiale Mulliez (AFM) to successfully nurture the ventures of the next generations...

Family Business

By Peter Vogel and Anouk Lavoie

CEO's temporal focus and business model innovation in family firms under environmental dynamism

By Muhammad Anwar Matheus Franco Thomas Clauss and Alfredo De Massis
in Long Range Planning August 2026, vol. 59, no. 4, 102656, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2026.102656

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Browse all topics

When does financial slack matter? Family ownership, CEO family status, and SME performance

By Tommaso Minola Philipp Sieger Massimo Baù Giovanna Campopiano Alfredo De Massis and Francesco Chirico
in Family Business Review June 2026, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 149–172, https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865261420231

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Browse all topics

Mastering digital transformation: "4E lessons" from leading multigenerational family firms

By Marco Mismetti Samuel Wayne Appleton Emanuela Rondi and Alfredo De Massis
in Research-Technology Management June 2026, vol. 69, no. 3, https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2026.2631376

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Digital

Browse all topics

Fly solo, then return home? Offspring's entrepreneurship experience and their future as family business successors

By Philipp Sieger Jasper Brinkerink Massimo Baù Johan Karlsson and Alfredo De Massis
in Journal of Management Studies 29 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.70114

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Entrepreneurship

Browse all topics

Counterfactual indeterminacy bias in family firm research

By Hanqing Fang James J. Chrisman and Alfredo De Massis
in Family Business Review 28 May 2026, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1177/08944865261454405

Summary

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Related topics

Family Business

Browse all topics

The Mulliez Family Business: Unlocking the secrets of entrepreneurial DNA (B)

By Peter Vogel and Anouk Lavoie
Case reference: IMD-2749 ©2026

Summary

Reference IMD-2749

Organization Association Familiale Mulliez

Available Languages English